


Our Little Infinities

by pumpkinangel



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Based on a Tumblr Post, Drabble Collection, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Jeonghan, M/M, Minor Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, One Shot Collection, Oneshot, Will add more tags as we go along, coupshan, jeongcheol - Freeform, mentions of other seventeen members - Freeform, non-au, seungcheol - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-08 16:52:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12868887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pumpkinangel/pseuds/pumpkinangel
Summary: a collection of bite-sized jeongcheol stories based on tumblr text posts, prompts, or seventeen photoslatest update: Chapter 5 - Night and Day





	1. MASTERLIST

 

 

> **Chapter 1: Masterlist**
> 
>  
> 
> **Chapter 2 : What He Wants**
> 
> royal au; prince!jeonghan, slave!seungcheol; angst; mentions of joshua
> 
>  
> 
> **Chapter 3: Lean on Me**
> 
> non-au; fluff; mentions of other seventeen members
> 
>  
> 
> **Chapter 4: 4 AM**
> 
> unrequited love au; angst; established jihan; mentions of joshua
> 
>  
> 
> **Chapter 5: Night and Day**
> 
> non-plot; ambiguous; jihancheol; mentions of joshua

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these are a couple of quick, short scenes that i wrote -- most have been sitting in my drafts for a while so i decided to just post everything :>
> 
> will update the tags and chapter list as we go along


	2. What He Wants

Jeonghan kissed Seungcheol one more time, this time more passionately than the last. Deeper. His hands moved along Seungcheol’s neck, Seungcheol’s back.

He kissed him again. Faster. A thirst quenched only by the slave’s lips. His right hand made its way to the slave’s hair, tangling his fingers on the soft brown strands. His left hand held firmly his back, pushing him closer like he couldn’t get enough.

Closer…

Deeper…

Seungcheol grabbed Jeonghan’s arm, his other hand trailing along the long-haired male’s cheek. His eyelids fluttered open to see Jeonghan’s tightly closed ones. The man in front of him exuded passion and fire --things he could no longer find inside him.

He pulled away.

The young prince was breathing heavily, eyebrows slowly turning into a confused curve. He opened his eyes and stared at Seungcheol's face, trying to look for a sign, an answer, an explanation to the sudden change but all he saw was the slave's tired eyes looking at him with a pained expression on his face.

“You can’t keep doing this, Jeonghan,"

Seungcheol’s gaze was timid and sad but his tone was firm with a hint of anger. Jeonghan stared at him, perplexed.

“You can’t keep doing this to me. Using me to satisfy your cravings, making me feel like you need me --like you love me-- when both you and I know that at the end of the day you’ll always go back to Joshua--"

Jeonghan opened his mouth as if to protest but Seungcheol quickly followed with, "--His... His Highness, I mean," which somehow hit Jeonghan harder. He was not naïve, and most definitely not stupid. It wasn't difficult to see where Seungcheol's change of heart is coming from, but it was difficult for him to accept where this was heading to.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Seungcheol's voice broke, and Jeonghan felt something inside him do the same.

“Cheol--“

“Don’t call me like that!”

The anger --the pain-- in the other man’s voice surprised him.

Jeonghan inhaled, suddenly feeling lost and defeated, “...then what do you want me to do?”

Seungcheol stared at the young prince, clad in his expensive, exquisite attire; his long hair tied up neatly with a silk ribbon Seungcheol knew costs more than his entire fortune. Jeonghan’s eyes brimmed with tears, almost pleading, desperate to understand how it all suddenly went wrong.

But Seungcheol saw the diamond on his ring finger, the gold laces on his clothes, the shimmer of his eyes and the fineness, the grace of his skin, his smile --the perfection, and he knew this person was a treasure he could never afford. Everything was wrong from the start and he needed to end this before he damages His Highness even more than his peasant lips already have.

After all, who was he to even deserve a glance from His Majesty, much less a kiss.

He took a deep breath and shut his eyes, forcing the words out of his mouth. “I want you to stop, Jeonghan.”

For a second, he just stood there, absorbing the words before Jeonghan felt his jaw drop open, shocked, not knowing what to say.

After all, he was the prince. He wasn’t made for rejection.

He was the one who gave orders, who chose. He was not the one who pleads, who begs, who gets thrown away. He was the one who stood tall, pristine, everyone else follows.

Seungcheol’s eyelids trembled as he opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on the dumfounded young royalty. “I’ll be going, Your Highness.”

He turned around and it took everything in Jeonghan not to fall onto his knees and grab him. It didn’t make sense. One minute he had his arms around him, everything was his and his alone, as it should be, and now so quickly he’s slipping through his fingers like sand.

“Seungcheol, wait!” he called out before he could stop himself.

He is the crown prince, heir to the throne; entitled to everything the world can offer.

“Seungcheol…” his voice cracked, “don’t leave me... I need you.”

He gets everything he wants; all men bow down to his glory.

“Seungcheol. I order you to stop right now.”

He wasn’t going to use authority; he needed him to stay because of him not because of what he is and what he said but he was left with no choice.

“Choi Seungcheol." Pleading. Begging. Desperate.

But the slave kept walking away, not for once did he look back to see the young prince, all elegant, all sophisticated, standing there, crying right where he left him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspired by the 160522 Yeouido fansign (https://twitter.com/joshuasvtunion/status/734592560275066880) ((i'm not sure what they were dressing up as exactly, i just thought of prince!jeonghan lol))


	3. Lean on Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> basically a leader seungcheol (and jeonghan) appreciation fic

“Guys, two lines come on. Is everyone here?” Seungcheol called out loudly, his voice fighting its way against Soonyoung and Seokmin’s uproars, Mingyu screaming after Minghao pinched his side and pretended he didn’t, and Vernon rapping along to the song blasting in his earphones, not realizing he was already quite loud.

  
Seungcheol tiptoed a little as he started doing headcounts, understanding that the boys aren’t likely to calm down for a while –it was their first music show after some time, he knew how excited and jittery they must be seeing how he was feeling that too himself.

  
“Chan just went to the restroom. Shua went back to the car with the manager, he said he left something behind,” he heard Jeonghan say beside him before he could even panic at the lack of heads.

  
“Oh… alright,” Seungcheol said. On impulse, he wrapped an arm around Jeonghan’s shoulder. The other comfortably crossed his arms in front of him, taking the opportunity to lean his body on Seungcheol’s frame. “We’ve been standing for so long I just wanna lie down,” he said, pressing his weight on the other.

“You’re so heavy, you lazy boy,” Seungcheol complained, even as he pulled Jeonghan closer to him.

  
\--

  
“Guys,” Seungcheol grinned at the enthusiasm his members were showing, “one by one, okay? Let’s make a habit of speaking one at a time”

 Some members chuckled. “Sorry, we had a long sleep so we’re full of energy,” Jeonghan laughed.

  
It was a pretty big, rectangular table yet somehow just enough for all of them. Jihoon stood on one side, full of passion as he shared his opinions and the other members agreed.

  
Discussions with thirteen very creative, very passionate people were always a noisy flurry of ideas, various views, and playful teasing punctuated by laughter. Too soon, people were talking over each other again, at least two topics at a time and Seungcheol could feel the beginnings of a headache forming at the right side of his head. “Hey—”

  
“OKAY,” he was cut off by Jeonghan’s voice and the rhythmic but authoritative tapping of his pencil on the table. “now our leader will wrap it all up for us so we can go and grab dinner.”

“What—” Seungcheol turned to Jeonghan, confused, but the other simply stared at him expectantly. To his surprise, the other kids have calmed down too, waiting to hear what he would say. With a light prompting from Joshua and a “yeah, hyung I’m hungry” from Wonwoo, Seungcheol ended up doing exactly what Jeonghan told him to, as always.

  
\--

  
Seungcheol stood up earlier than the others and made his way towards the counter. He had made a habit of not asking for the bill while in the table, lest the members feel pressured to quickly finish up their meals. He glanced back and saw Soonyoung and Mingyu making their way though a new bowl of rice, likely their third, Junhui still savoring the pieces of meat, and Jihoon leisurely enjoying his cola. But Seungcheol was feeling quite tired and just wanted to quickly pay and hit the sack earlier, having had less sleep since he stayed up later than the others, writing and rewriting his lyrics.

  
He approached the counter and reached into his pocket for his wallet, feeling some pieces of paper he wasn’t sure was supposed to be there. He pulled them out – money, and a piece of yellow note pad folded neatly into four.

  
He opened it and smirked to himself, amused but not exactly surprised.

  
He proceeded to pay for the bill, saying to charge any other additional orders to his card. Seungcheol glanced at the table one more time, only to see Jeonghan laughing loudly at something Seokmin must have done, and any apprehension Seungcheol may have had before was completely gone.

  
\--

  
Seungcheol turned the knob and entered the dimly lit room, heaving a sigh to himself. It had been a particularly long day –they had flown overseas for an event, performed and accepted an award, rode the flight right after, flown back to Korea, caught what little sleep they could before they had to rush to the salon and prepare for a music show performance.

  
And in between, Seungcheol had to check once in a while that Minghao’s back injury isn’t acting up, make sure Vernon is well-informed and not getting lost with his headphones on, plead with the staff using aegyo to get Mingyu and Wonwoo to use the restroom for a quick break, allowing each of the members to go before him even when he had to go himself, wake Jihoon up so he could get himself styled, help Chan adjust his lapel mic, and keep reminding Seokmin to keep his voice down a little as he did vocalizations, all while trying to ignore the occasional discomfort in his knee.

  
He was just about ready to plop down onto bed after making sure the rest of the younger ones were comfortably asleep when a soft voice broke his reverie.

  
“Everything okay?”

  
Seungcheol took a deep breath.

“Yeah, everything’s fine” he smiled at Jeonghan who was getting up from his position on the upper bunk.

  
“Seungcheol,” he quietly went down the steps, careful not to make noise so as not to wake Mingyu and Jihoon up. “...it’s just me,” he said, giving Seungcheol a playful but somehow reassuring grin.

 

And it was then that Seungcheol realized that this is Jeonghan. Only Jeonghan. And with him, he doesn’t have to be the cool, responsible, idol group leader S Coups.

  
In the dim lighting, with Jeonghan pulling him to sit on the lower bunk beside him, he could just be plain 22-year old Seungcheol. Seungcheol with the self-doubts. Seungcheol who beats himself too hard. Seungcheol who, right now, just wants to bury himself inside Jeonghan’s arms.

  
He let out a faint laugh.

“It’s weirdly nice to hear my real name for once,” he joked, already burrowing his head on the crook of Jeonghan’s neck, leaning on his shoulder.

  
A breathy chuckle escaped Jeonghan’s lips, “it’s not easy being a father of 12, now is it?”

Seungcheol nodded, not raising his head from the other’s shoulder, clinging like the child that he is. “I’d bet. Thankfully, I’m only a father of 11.”

  
Jeonghan gasped dramatically, moving his shoulder away, “I can’t believe you disowned Chan!!!”

Seungcheol looked up, ready to protest, only to be met by a mischievous glint in Jeonghan’s eyes. He smacked him playfully in the chest. “You know what I mean,” he argued.

“Okay, so not Chan… maybe Seungkwan?”

  
Despite himself, Seungcheol laughed.

  
“I’m serious, Jeonghan, I’m not a single dad and we both, we all know it,” he said, enjoying the slight blush that has crept on Jeonghan’s cheeks.

  
“Yeah, Seventeen’s parents. What would you ever do without me, huh?” he said, teasingly cupping Seungcheol’s face in his palms.

  
Seungcheol thought of how Jeonghan was always beside him, literally and figuratively — thinking he was putting his weight on the older by always leaning on him, when really it was him lifting a huge weight off Seungcheol’s shoulders. He was reminded of how Jeonghan, as bossy as he was, thinks he always fools Seungcheol into doing the weirdest things when really Seungcheol was thankful to Jeonghan for always guiding him when he himself wasn’t sure of what to do next. He looked back at how Jeonghan, as lazy as he may seem, would get up earlier than him, willingly take the responsibility of waking the younger ones so Seungcheol could have a couple more minutes in bed; how Jeonghan would be the one tidying up, organizing his socks and his shirts so he doesn’t have trouble looking for them himself; how Jeonghan, with his own little, seemingly insignificant and non-deliberate actions, makes Seungcheol’s life so much easier.

  
What, indeed, would he ever do without him.

  
“By the way,” Seungcheol reached over the bedside table and took a crumpled piece of yellow paper. He showed it to Jeonghan. “Care to explain?”

  
Jeonghan simply grinned, “You never let me split the bill but I couldn’t let you pay up for everything, especially since I initiated the idea that you treat us out. Did you see how many orders of meat we’ve had?”

  
“So you threatened me instead?” he replied, unfolding the note that read _Take this as additional payment or I’ll make you do 32 aegyo poses in the next fansign_.

Jeonghan shrugged, “it worked”.

  
Seungcheol could only laugh. He started to lie down on the bed, pulling Jeonghan beside him. He was going to have to endure Mingyu’s teasing and Jihoon’s glares (he gets a little protective of Jeonghan these days), but at this point Seungcheol hardly even cares.

  
“How did you even put those inside my pocket? I swear they were empty when I wore them,”

“You really didn’t suspect it when I placed my hand on your thigh?” Jeonghan was having difficulty trying to contain his laughter. “God, Seungcheol what were you thinking why I was rubbing my palms over your upper thigh?”

  
Seungcheol squeezed Jeonghan around his arms, “Damn, you’re such a scammer”

  
Jeonghan kept giggling into the other’s chest, embracing him back, “I know you love that about me.”

  
And like always, Seungcheol knew Jeonghan was right.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VERY loosely based on actual situations/things they've mentioned before but doesn't follow real-life timelines
> 
> ((i kinda just went soft thinking of how seungcheol carries so much responsibility as he does a great job as a leader, and how jeonghan's always there to take care of everyone in seventeen, including seungcheol himself))


	4. 4 AM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on a tumblr post / photo

"You're up?"

 

Seungcheol rubbed his eyes and tried to blink his sleepiness away as his vision adjusted to the light from his phone's screen.

"Yeah," he replied.

 

It was 4am and he has been in bed quite a while when he was woken up by his phone's vibration. The name that popped on the screen was one he could never say no to.

 

“Why? It’s too late…”

“Or too early. Depends on how you look at it.”

 

"It's 4am. They say the only people up at this time are either heartbroken or in love."

 

Seungcheol wondered, was he smiling when he typed that? Messing with him again?

Or is he hiding his pain under the guise of a tease once again?

With Jeonghan, and how good he was at faking, Seungcheol couldn’t really tell.

 

"Which one are you, then?"

 

A minute later.  
Seungcheol almost thought the other slept on him.

 

"Is it possible to be one and not the other though? Is it possible to be heartbroken without being in love?"

 

It was when he starts speaking like this that Seungcheol perks up. Always, always perks up, it hardly ever mattered if Jeonghan was fooling with him again. He was always ready to come protect him, take care of him, or even just listen to him.

Jeonghan calls him a fool for always falling for his tricks. Little does he know that it’s because Seungcheol _chooses_ to.

 

"What happened, Jeonghan? Need to talk?"

 

He could imagine the other, lying in his own bed, eyes rimmed red both from crying and lack of sleep.

 

"Joshua." came the one-word reply. It was a name that was never joking matter.

 

 _Asshole_ , Seungcheol typed but deleted right after.

 

"He said I was too much..."

 

Jeonghan was a downpour –never giving too little, never holding back. He liked to show affection through almost motherly pampers and an abundance of childish teasing; he would shower you with attention and expect you give him the same. He was too playful, quite high-maintenance... clingy, and petty, sometimes bitchy, but never too much. Never, never too much.

 

“He didn’t mean that,” Seungcheol tried.

 

“Does Joshua ever say anything he doesn’t mean?”

 

Hong Joshua. Too painfully honest to the point of being unintentionally cruel. Had he been half the jerk portrayed by antagonistic second-male leads on TV, it would have been easy to blame him. But Joshua was too kind, too gentle, and Seungcheol knew he couldn't hate him even if he tried.

 

It was a quarter-past four when Jeonghan texted again.

 

“What if…"

"What if he breaks up with me?”

 

Seungcheol knew he should assure Jeonghan that Joshua wouldn’t. But part of him wishes he would.

He mentally cursed himself for being so selfish.

 

“I don’t want to be alone again, Cheol.” 

 

He was never alone though –maybe Jeonghan just doesn’t know.

8pm, when he wants to go grab a drink after a bad day, Seungcheol was there listening to his rants and watching him down bottle after bottle. Midnight, with the stories all told, maybe some at least twice, and the bottles all emptied, Seungcheol was there half-carrying a stumbling Jeonghan, holding his hair away from his face as he expelled the cursed drink and the last bits of his pride, not even worried or embarrassed because Seungcheol’s probably seen worse.  
7am, when he's half-awake, Seungcheol was there with the pancakes and hot chocolate.  
Noon, when he's bright as the sun; night when he's coming undone.

Three in the afternoon, when Jeonghan was bored; four in the morning when his heart broke.

 

“Seungcheol?”  
“You still up?”

A series of vibrations in his phone made Seungcheol realize he hasn’t replied in a while.

“Guess you’re asleep now.”

 

But oh he was up. He was very much still up at that ungodly hour, because he was in love with the boy who was heartbroken and maybe Jeonghan was right, it wasn’t possible to be one without the other. It wasn't possible to be heartbroken without being in love.

 

“Of course you're asleep. That’s okay, you’re neither heartbroken nor in love.”

 

“I’m here, Jeonghan,” al _ways, always here._

 

"oh???"

His phone vibrated in rapid succession

"Hey, WHY"  
“Are you in love?!?!”

 

Seungcheol could only laugh to himself.

 

“What made you come to that conclusion?”

 

“Well, it’s way past 4am and you’re still awake. I also didn’t think you could be heartbroken without being in love. So are you, then?”

 

“Jeonghan, you do realize there are people who take the night shift or wake up too early in the morning to not be late for work, right?”

 

“Yeah, and you’re neither. So you're in love then? Tell me.”

 

He really wouldn’t let something go so easily –one of the things he adored so much about him. 

 

“But Jeonghan, don’t you think it should be possible to be in love without being heartbroken?”

 

It was almost five then, and for a brief moment, Seungcheol wondered if he'd finally crossed the line. If somewhere in the conversation, Jeonghan caught on and realized the teasing's got too real for not only was Seungcheol indeed in love, he was with him.

 

But too soon he realized that it wasn't going to happen like that, even if Seungcheol had somehow hoped it will. It wasn't going to be recognized overnight, much less over text messages –not when seven long years didn't do the trick.

Too soon he realized that maybe it was a phone call that held Jeonghan up and prevented him from replying. A phone call with a gentle voice at the other end of the line, filled with Sorry's and I Love You's too sincere not to believe.

 

And a little too late he realized, maybe it wasn't that Jeonghan didn't know. No soul with such wit and attentiveness as Jeonghan was going to miss the message his heart conveyed, even when Seungcheol never found the words to express them. 

 

It was 6am when light dawned and Jeonghan still hasn’t replied. He must’ve fallen asleep after all and Seungcheol knew in a few hours he would be texting back, never to answer his last question, but to tell him Joshua has apologized.

And everything’s back to the way it was.

 

But by the next day, Seungcheol would also still be up at four a.m., maybe waiting for a text from the boy he’s in love with, maybe with a heart breaking knowing he doesn’t feel the same way. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on the tumblr post / photo : 
> 
> "It was four am when I answered your text. You replied right as I was falling asleep. I sighed and read your message, "you're up?" the only people actually up this late are either heartbroken or in love and I knew he was heartbroken. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and wrote back. "Yes. need to talk?" and he did. But by five a.m. he was fast asleep and I wasn't. The only people up this late are the heartbroken and in love. and I was in love with the boy that was heartbroken."  
> -Excerpt from a book I will never write #67 // @charidan_ on Instagram (via @excerptsofstories)


	5. Night and Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk what to call this honestly... sorta just spilled ink – a mess of the feelings i have for cheol, jeonghan, and shua overflowing and forming themselves desperately into words

Joshua was morning.

He was the warmth of the sunlight peeping through the curtains, kissing him awake. His voice was the sweetness of a mug of hot chocolate or coffee with two shots of sugar and cream, exactly the way Jeonghan liked it. Joshua was the comfort of a new day, all of the calm and gentle ‘good mornings’ that Jeonghan, who would always rather sleep in tucked underneath the blankets, would gladly wake up to.

He was the beginning, the way mornings would signal the start of another day. He was the first to be there and say hello, the first to light up his world, the first to see it go round.

 

Jeonghan enjoyed the morning, the warmth and the calm and the sweetness that was everything Seungcheol was not.

 

He was night.

Dark and beautiful –the type that drove people to do things they wouldn’t when under the watch of the sun. He was the cold radiance of moonlight, subtly lighting up the world in a way nothing else can.

Seungcheol was night; the strength and protection that made him feel safe, allowing him to sleep. He was the goodnight kisses, the cool breeze wrapping him in an embrace.

 

They were night and day, two different parts of Jeonghan’s world that were never meant to intersect but were inherently intertwined. He loved the morning sunshine as much as the serenity of the night; the brightness of day and the evening’s coolness and those were love incomparable with each other.

Love that stands alone.

Love that was equal, love that was for both.

 

They both held fire that brought light to Jeonghan’s life – Joshua’s the gentle flicker of the hearth, radiating just the right heat not to freeze up a home; comfortable, soft. He kindles the feelings of being safe and warm from the harsh cold outside.

Seungcheol was flame that always sets his heart ablaze. Passion burning strong. Hot, fiery, and fuels a desire to burn bright, but never to burn out.

Both were reasons for the fire inside him never to go out. Throughout mornings of waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Throughout sleepless nights, with nightmares caused not so much by the monsters in the dark but the demons inside.

 

To Jeonghan, both were true, both were his. Both were beautiful, in their own, starkly different ways. Both were happy, both were pain.

Both were love, night and day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just always loved how you can view cheol and shua as opposite poles – with jeonghan somewhere in between. Having, and being, the best of both worlds. 
> 
> it's au but not exactly set in any universe so anything goes (which also means this may or may not be real-life accurate + it does NOT mean to imply that cheol isn't warm and sweet or shua isn't cool and strong ofc :) )
> 
> i dont mean to analyze or describe them as people – this was written more by my heart than my head honestly. 
> 
> i appreciate discussions / reactions in the comments! :)


End file.
